My Wonderful Walls Blog — DIY

How to Create a Princess Mural with Wall Decals in 4 Easy Steps 0

If you have a precocious little darling who loves ‘everything princess’, give her a princess room she will remember forever. There is no need to spend oodles of money or to hire a professional. Simply these 4 simple steps and the princess room your daughter has been dreaming about will become a beautiful reality. “If you dream a thing more than once, it’s sure to come true” - Aurora

STEP 1: GET INSPIRATION FROM OTHERS
So many girls’ rooms have been transformed into a princess paradise with the Perfectly Princess Jumbo Wall Decal Set. Check out collection of pictures our customers have shared with us over the years. There is no wrong way to do it but there are many GREAT variations! Scroll to the bottom of the product page to get a peek into these pretty princess rooms for some great ideas and inspiration!

STEP 2: PLAN THE LAYOUT
Even though the decals are easily repositionable, it’s a good idea to plan the layout of your design prior to putting up the decals. The Princess Room Virtual Mural Builder allows you to plan out where you will place each decal before you begin sticking them. Simply drag and drop the elements from the panel until you get the princess room to your liking. If you plan to decorate more than one wall, we suggest creating a different scene for each wall and then printing each out to use as a reference.

STEP 3: CREATE THE SKY & HILLS
The Perfectly Princess Sticker Set looks best on a background scene with sky and hills. You can either paint the sky and hills with latex paint or purchase a hill decal from us.

PAINT: If you choose to paint, you will need two colors of latex paint (eggshell or satin finish). Paint the sky and let dry. Then, use chalk to sketch out the top of the hills and you are ready to paint them in. An easy way to paint the hills is with a roller. For a full tutorial, check out the article How To Paint the Sky and Hills in the Background

STICKER: If you’d rather put up a hill sticker rather than paint the hill, no problem! With the hill wall decal, you get 10 feet of hill sticker making it super easy to create dimension in your princess scene. 

Note: The decals will stick better to clean walls so your walls should be clean and free of oils and debris prior to putting up the stickers. Unless you have freshly painted the walls, wipe the walls down with a wet washcloth and let dry.

STEP 4: PUT UP THE DECALS
Now for the fun part! It’s time to put up the princess wall decals. Have your printouts handy from Step 2 and begin putting up the stickers. Simply peel each from the backing paper and stick it on the wall. For the larger pieces, like the castle, you might want to grab a friend for an extra set of helping hands. The stickers are repositionable so don’t fret if you need to move them. They will stick again and again.

We hope you feel empowered and excited to create a princess room your girl will remember forever. With the Perfectly Princess Decal Set and other tools and resources provided, we are confident that you’ll find the experience and easy an rewarding one. Happy decorating and please contact us if you have any questions. We are available 24/7 via email, through the chat feature or by phone (423-815-1703) from 10am to 6pm. We are happy to help and eager to help you get your little princess the princess room of her dreams!


Check out these beautiful rooms that have been transformed wiith the DIY Perfectly Princess Wall Decal Set. You can do it too!

• Perfectly Princess Playroom in Eastvale, California
• Princess Wonderland in Ooltewah, Tennessee 
• Disney Lovers Create Gorgeous Princess Room for Baby Girl in Orlando, Florida
• A Playroom for Daddy’s Little Princess in Lansing, North Carolina

How to Stencil Any Surface 0

We talk a lot about stenciling walls here but our self-adhesive stencils are great for so much more! We’ve had customers use them on ceilings, floors, furniture, mirrors, crafts, etc. But if you’re going to use our stencils on something out of the ordinary, it’s best to know what makes a good stenciling surface and how best to get your surface ready. Keep reading below for some tips on different surfaces you can stencil.

• Wood: For best results, if finished, sand smooth first and remove dust with a damp cloth. If unfinished you can skip this step.
• Stone: Sand with a fine grit sanding block and remove dust with a damp cloth. If surface is uneven, make sure to use extra spray adhesive if necessary to adhere the stencil to the stone completely.
• Tin/Metal: If dirty, wash with warm soapy water and allow to dry. Wipe the surface with a cloth dampened with white vinegar or rubbing alcohol and allow to dry. There are some stencil paints available strictly for painting metal you may want to check out.
• Paper Mache: Wipe clean with a damp cloth or paper towel to remove dust. Let it dry.
• Glass/Ceramics: For best results, wash well with soapy water then allow to dry. Wipe surface with rubbing alcohol damped cloth or vinegar/water solution. Let dry completely before stenciling.
• Canvas: Wipe canvas clean with dampened cloth to remove dust before applying stencil.
• Terra Cotta: Wipe the surface clean with dampened cloth or paper towel. Seal interior of terra cotta flower pot with clear acrylic sealer.
• Fabric: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions from the fabric paint that you choose. If not using fabric paint, wash in soapy water. Do not use dryer sheet or fabric softener. Allow to dry and iron to remove wrinkles if needed, without using spray starch. See our blog post on Stenciling Fabrics for more information.

What other surfaces can you think of that you might like to stencil? With our easy to use stencils, the sky is the limit! If you’ve created something unique using one of our stencils please send us a pic at info@mywonderfulwalls.com! We’d love to see your masterpiece.

What Type of Paint Should I Use for My Stenciling Project? 0

When stenciling walls, we generally recommend using acrylic craft paints and or latex paints. But what about for all of your other stenciling projects? Here is a short list of different types of paint and their features and benefits.

Acrylic Craft Paints: Great for many applications, acrylic craft paints are what we sell on our site. They blend well, have a large variety of colors and are easy to clean up. They’re also not very expensive.

Stencil Cremes: Stencil crèmes are oil-based paints in a wax medium which won’t drip or run. When working with stencil crèmes, you must first remove the thin wax layer from the surface of the paint before loading your brush with color. Stencil crèmes blend together beautifully and create a soft, hand-painted feel.

Chalk Paints: Chalk paint has become very popular in recent years. It allows the do-it-yourself enthusiast the opportunity to paint, distress, stencil and possibly distress the stenciling using only one paint while decorating a piece of furniture.

Fabric Paints: Most fabric paints are thick and work well for stenciled application. Because most fabrics are very absorbent, you will need to offload more paint then with other projects. For more information on painting fabrics check out our blog post How to Stencil Fabrics.

Spray Paints: For some surfaces like plastic, spray paints can be used. They do require very good ventilation and you will need to mask the area around the stencil cut outs to make sure you don’t spread the color outside of the desired area. Spray paints can be very messy so they aren’t necessarily the most desirable choice.

Solid Oil Paints: You can purchase solid oil paints that look like crayons or that come in little pots in a craft or art store. The upside is they won’t bleed or spill because they are solid. They also blend and shade easily because they dry slowly. The downside to using solid oil paints is that you need to use a stencil brush rather than a roller or an airbrush which can make the process very slow.

Latex Paints: Great for large wall designs and all-over stencils, latex paint can be an economical choice. Latex paints dry quickly to the touch but can be slow to cure. This can cause problems when removing a stencil or tape which can peel little bits of the paint off with it. This can slow a project down as curing time is very variable depending on temperature and humidity.

These are the basic types of paint you may run into as you start planning your stenciling project. There are a large variety of additives, finishes and glazes that you may want to investigate as well depending on what you are stenciling. Having the right type of paint for your project ensures your success! Stay tuned for our next blog post regarding types of surfaces you can stencil.

5 Easy Steps to Stenciling with a Brush and Paint 0

Stenciling can be intimidating but once you get the hang of it, it really is one of the easiest ways to make a basic print on your walls, windows, furniture or fabrics. Here are the 5 basic steps to stenciling with a brush and a paint.

1. Use clean, dry stencil brushes, one for every color. You can find stencil brushes in a few different sizes with different types of bristles. Stiff bristles are required for stippling and softer ones for rubbing or swirling.

2. Use a piece of heavy paper or cardboard or scraps of your fabric for a practice surface before starting your project. Apply your My Wonderful Walls Stencil with our self-adhesive backing or use spray adhesive or tape for other stencils, depending on your surface type.

3. Place a dollop of paint onto a plate or palette tray. Pick up a very small amount of paint on the brush. On an empty portion of your plate or tray, work the paint thoroughly and evenly into the brush bristles by rubbing in firm circles

4. Now remove all excess paint by working the brush in circles on a stack of paper towels. Knowing when you have just the right amount of paint on your brush may take some trial and error.

5. Now you’re ready to stencil! You can use a stippling or pouncing technique in which you hold the brush straight up and down and pounce it over the cutouts in the stencil using short, firm taps. Or you can use a swirling technique and holding the brush straight up, rub it in small circles over the cutouts, pressing lightly at first in case you have too much paint on your brush. Gradually, press firmer. Work around the edges first before moving to the center, repeating the application of paint to the edge to build up the color slowly. Once you are feeling happy with the print, remove the stencil and let the paint dry. Move on to your next area or project!

HINT: Some stencilers find it helpful to keep a damp cloth or paper towel in a small jar for each brush so that when they are not using that particular brush, they can keep it from getting dried out but not get it soaked. You do not want to have a wet brush.

Now that you have the 5 steps to stenciling with a brush and paint, you are ready to start your next project. Be sure to check out our blog post on How to Stencil Using a Roller with Liquid Paint. Some projects may require you to use both techniques.

How to Create a Wall Border with Stencils 0

Border designs are an easy way to decorate the top of a wall or along an architectural feature like chair rail. You can also stencil borders on furniture, windows, and things like wrapping paper. Many My Wonderful Walls stencils make a great border! The hardest challenge with creating a border is keeping it on a straight line as you repeat your stenciled pattern. Using a guideline and registration marks will help you accomplish your goal and make a beautiful bordered design look like it was professionally created.

Begin by measuring from the edge of the ceiling, floor, or whatever architectural feature is closest to the placement of your wall border. You can use a carpenter’s level to help you in case of sloped walls, floors or ceilings. Mark your guideline with a chalk line on painters’ tape, then you don’t have to worry about removing the marks later.  Measure the position you want in a couple of places and with the help of a second person if necessary, apply a length of painters’ tape in roughly the right position.

Now you’ll want to re-measure each end of your stencil and put your chalk line along the tape. To position the stencil, align the registration holes or stencil edge with the guideline you have chalked out on the tape and mark those holes right on the tape. Make sure to use the lowest tack painters’ tape available and when working with a freshly painted surface, give it time to completely cure before putting tape of any kind on it.

Most stencils will have a printed or cut out outline of the trailing cutouts for the adjacent repeat. Simply overlap and line up these outlines onto the corresponding parts that have just been painted. When the top edge of the stencil is lined up along the guideline and the registration outlines are lined up over the appropriate stenciled parts, then the stencil is in the right place for the next repeat. If registration outlines are cut out, not printed, be careful to not paint them a second time.

Another challenge with painting a border in an entire room is in most cases the length of the wall is probably not going to be an even multiple of the stencil length. There are a few ways you can address this. To make a continuous border, you can try folding the stencil into corners. Alternatively, you can truncate the design on both sides of the corner. You may also be able to use a corner piece (which may come with the border stencil you purchase or you could separately purchase a coordinating design) to mark the end of the border segment. There is no wrong answer, it is just what you feel most comfortable with and find most visually appealing.

Paint over your stencil with a roller brush as usual, making sure to use the steps in our How to Stencil Using a Roller with Liquid Paint article. Carefully remove the stencil and reapply to the next portion of your wall using your registration guidelines to line it up correctly and continue. Once you are done, remove your painters’ tape as soon as possible pulling it straight back on itself. Let your border design fully dry, using a hair dryer if necessary to speed up the process.

You will now have a gorgeous wall border to show off to friends and family. You can also easily translate these steps to painting a border on other items as well. If you’ve ever used our wall stencils to create a border, we’d love to hear from you in the comments!

How to Stencil Using a Roller with Liquid Paint 0

There are many techniques you can use to paint with your new stencils but one of the easiest is to use a roller brush and either latex house paint or acrylic craft paint. If you have bought a stencil kit from My Wonderful Walls, we do sell acrylic paint kits with all the colors you need to paint your wall mural as shown. But you can also purchase these paints at most craft or big box stores. Here is a step by step guide to stenciling with a roller brush. 

Materials Needed: 

1. High Density Foam Roller Brushes (you may need many sizes depending on what stencils you are using)
2. Acrylic Craft Paint or Latex House Paint (For indoor projects)
3. Flat Palette Tray, Old Cookie Sheet or Paper Plates
4. Palette Knife or Spatula
5.  Brush for Shading/Details
6. Stencils

How to Stencil with a Roller Brush: 

1. Start with a clean, dry surface. My Wonderful Walls stencils are self-adhesive so you can just stick them to your walls, furniture or wherever you are stenciling.
2. Pour a few spoonfuls of paint onto your flat palette tray or paper plate.
3. Using a palette knife or spatula, draw a long wide streak of paint from the spoonfuls. You’ll want it to be shallow.
4. Roll your roller brush in the steak until the entire roller is covered with paint. Work it back and forth so your paint will be distributed evenly.
5. Draw the roller back and forth over the stencil openings, pressing lightly at first. You can press more firmly as some of the paint is used up. Try to keep the brush as flat as possible.
6. Build up the color slowly with more passes of the brush. If you are worried about making it too dark, lift up the corner of the stencil to check. When you are satisfied, you can gently lift the stencil away and let your paint dry. HINT: You can use a hair dryer to speed this process up.
7. If you want to blend a second color into an interior portion of the stencil use the tip of the roller only being careful not to tear the foam. You can also add shading with a brush.
8. HINT: When not using the roller, keep it in a ziploc bag to prevent drying out. This is especially true when using latex paint. If you still need to moisten the foam, you can roll it over a damp kitchen sponge or spritz it with a little water. Don’t let it get too wet or you will have bleeding with your paint.

This is just a basic overview of painting with a roller brush. When you purchase My Wonderful Wall stencils you will receive a lot of helpful hints and project ideas with your stencils and you can always check out our photo reviews and blog for ideas. If you have any helpful hints for using a roller brush to stencil feel free to leave them in the comments!